Lakers One Win Away

Bryant on brink of closing out fourth championship

All the anger, all the ferocity that had filled Kobe Bryant(notes) for the past week – the clenched-jaw seriousness he brought to these NBA Finals – seemed to melt away by the step as he made the slow walk to the Amway Arena loading dock early Friday. A few Orlando Magic players continued to linger in the hallway an hour after their crushing loss, and Bryant’s face brightened at the sight of Mickael Pietrus(notes).

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Lakers host Magic in NBA Finals

Lakers get home court, but will they have advantage vs. Magic?

So much for Kobe Bryant and LeBron James settling the who’s-best debate on the court.

The Lakers officially have an opponent in the NBA Finals, and it’s not the Cleveland Cavaliers, though the Orlando Magic will be more than last-second stand-ins, thanks to a horde of accurate long-range shooters and a tough-to-stop protagonist, center Dwight Howard.

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